Not Quite Incomunicado!

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The cause of the problems can be blamed mainly on poor internet communication which have been “under repair” for the past four weeks at this stage. Working on an old and not so efficient laptop has added to the difficulty – it took as long to power up and another while to connect to the internet. The less than a year old laptop has been returned to the vendor for a second replacement of the touchpad which has malfunctioned in the past few days. The repairs and replacement will be free of charge but, of course, not free of inconvenience. Online shopping for our weekly groceries is an experiece fraught with the concern that all will be lost before the order has been placed and it took me six attempts over a twenty-four hour period to renew my motor insurance. So, communications are not at their best but we live in hope of improvement.

In this situation, I am proceeding with a certain nervousness, step by step, saving drafts very frequently in hopes that all will not be lost down the blackhole of interrupted connection to the internet.

We have had a period of very dry weather, followed by the relief of days of most welcome rain and we are now in a stretch of very warm and heavy days which are pleasant though tiring on the gardener by the end of the day outdoors. We are, I am very happy to report in the words of the Head Gardener, “on top of our jobs”. The grass has been cut and edged, the hedges trimmed, the beds and borders weeded and the soil surface refreshed, all staking and supports have been put in position and we are entering a period of maintenance -the continuous watering of pots, the dead-heading of dahlias, roses etc and all the everyday bits and pieces that need to be done to keep the garden looking well. There are thoughts for some small projects and these will be considered for a while before any implementation – a little like the carpenter’s saying to measure twice and cut once! We will get to them in due time.

So, to the photographs: First, general views of the garden at the moment. These were taken over a few days, some in the bright light of a sunny day and others later in the evening. Click to enlarge and view as a slideshow: P.S. Should the photograph labels appear on your screen, please forgive the double “n” in garden!

And a few flowers: (After seven attempts to upload the photographs!)

Hosta ‘Guacamole’

Rosa ‘New Dawn’. Clematis ‘Etoile Violette’

Rosa ‘Compassion’

Watsonia ‘Mount Congreve Coral’

Thalictrum delavayi ‘Hinckley’

Tritelia laxa

Viburnum henryi – great fragrance

Dryas drumondii seedhead

Elephant Garlic flowerhead

Epipactis ‘Sabine’

Watsonia

Dactylorhizas and hostas

Dierama

Dierama

Dieramas. Hemerocallis ‘Corky’

Clematis ‘Boulevard Acropolis’

Hosta with thyme

Campanula ‘Pritchard’s Variety’

Arisaema candidissima

That’s all folks!

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